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You have chosen to manually set up the filesystems for your new %(productName)s installation. Before you begin, you might want to take a minute to learn the lay of the land. Quite a bit has changed. Everything, you might say.
You have chosen to manually set up the filesystems for your new %(productName)s installation. Before you begin, you might want to take a minute to learn the lay of the land. Quite a bit has changed. Everything, you might say.


== Top-down specification (short version) ==
== The Big Idea ==
The most important change is that creation of new filesystems has been streamlined. You no longer have to build complex devices like LVM logical volumes in stages (physical volume, volume group, logical volume) -- now you just create a logical volume and we'll handle the legwork of setting up the physical volumes and volume group to contain it. We'll also handle adjusting the volume group as you add, remove, and resize logical volumes so you don't have to worry about the mundane details.
The most important change is that creation of new filesystems has been streamlined. You no longer have to build complex devices like LVM logical volumes in stages (physical volume, volume group, logical volume) -- now you just create a logical volume and we'll handle the legwork of setting up the physical volumes and volume group to contain it. We'll also handle adjusting the volume group as you add, remove, and resize logical volumes so you don't have to worry about the mundane details.
== Top-down specification (longer version) ==
The general approach to storage configuration in past versions of the %(productName)s installer was what is known as bottom-up specification. That means that in order to create a /home filesystem on a high-level device like an LVM logical volume you must follow these steps:
# Decide how much space you will need for all of your logical volumes and which disks you want to use for them.
# Create disk partitions to match the requirements from step 1 and format them as "LVM physical volume".
# Create an LVM volume group that uses the physical volume partitions from step 2.
# Create an LVM logical volume within the volume group from step 2 and configure it with the desired size and a mountpoint of '/home'.
This version of the installer uses a different approach, known as top-down specification. The general idea is that you tell the installer what you want and let us handle the dirty work for you. In a top-down workflow, here is how you create a /home filesystem on an LVM logical volume:
# Click the + button and enter '/home' for the mountpoint and the desired size.
If you didn't change the default partition type on the previous screen, you're done. See how easy that was?
Now you can customize the new filesystem by selecting it under the "New %(productName)s Installation" subtree on the left-hand side of the screen. When you're done, click on "Apply changes".


== Screen Layout ==
== Screen Layout ==

Revision as of 16:43, 21 November 2012

Welcome

You have chosen to manually set up the filesystems for your new %(productName)s installation. Before you begin, you might want to take a minute to learn the lay of the land. Quite a bit has changed. Everything, you might say.

The Big Idea

The most important change is that creation of new filesystems has been streamlined. You no longer have to build complex devices like LVM logical volumes in stages (physical volume, volume group, logical volume) -- now you just create a logical volume and we'll handle the legwork of setting up the physical volumes and volume group to contain it. We'll also handle adjusting the volume group as you add, remove, and resize logical volumes so you don't have to worry about the mundane details.

Screen Layout

The left-hand side of the screen shows filesystems from the OS installations we were able to find on this computer. The new %(productName)s installation is at the top of the list. You can click on the names of the installations to see what filesystems they contain.

Below the various installations and filesystems on the left-hand side there are buttons to add a new filesystem, remove the selected filesystem, or configure the selected filesystem.

You will notice that the right-hand side of the screen shows the details of the filesystem you have selected on the left-hand side of the screen. On the bottom-left you will see a summary of the disks you have chosen to use for the installation. You can click on the blue text to see more detailed information about your selected disks.

How to create a new filesystem on a new device

  1. Click on the + button.
  2. Enter the mountpoint and size. (Hint: Hover the mouse pointer over either of the text entry areas for help.)
  3. Select the new device under "New %(productName)s Installation" on the left-hand side of the screen and customize it to suit your needs.

How to reformat a device/filesystem that already exists on your disk

  1. Select the filesystem from the left-hand side of the screen.
  2. Click on the "Customize" expander on the right-hand side of the screen.
  3. Activate the "Reformat" checkbutton, select a filesystem type and, if applicable, enter a mountpoint above in the "Mountpoint" text entry area.
  4. Click on "Apply changes"

How to set a mountpoint for a filesystem that already exists on your disk

  1. Select the filesystem from the left-hand side of the screen.
  2. Enter a mountpoint in the "Mountpoint" text entry area on the right-hand side of the screen.
  3. Click on "Apply changes"

How to remove a device/filesystem that already exists on your disk

  1. Select the filesystem/device you wish to remove on the left-hand side of the screen.
  2. Click the - button.

Hint: Removing a device that already exists on your disk from the "New %(productName)s Installation" does not remove it from the disk. It only resets that device to its original state. To remove a device that already exists on your disk, you must select it from under any of the other detected installations (or "Unknown") and hit the - button.

Tips and hints

You can enter sizes for new devices that are greater than the total available free space. The installer will come as close as possible to the size you request.

By default, new devices use any/all of your selected disks.

You can change which disks a new device may be allocated from by clicking the configure button (the one with a tools graphic) while that device is selected.

When adding a new mountpoint by clicking the + button, leave the size entry blank to make the new device use all available free space.

When you remove the last device from a container device like an LVM volume group, we will automatically remove that container device to make room for new devices.

When the last partition is removed from a disk, that disk may be reinitialized with a new partition table if we think there is a more appropriate type for that disk.